Intrigued
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Dark Moon/Tsukigomori AU. He was someone different than the other business acquaintances of her father. Yes, he was someone much different, indeed. Mio had a feeling that this man could be...possibly compatible with her own self, if the both of them played their cards right. (No character tab for Mio Hongo)


**Author note: I do not own Skip Beat! or Count Cain/Godchild, nor do I own Cassandra Gladstone or Mio Hongo.**

**Hello to the Skip Beat! and Count Cain/Godchild fans who are curious about this crossover. Some of you may have probably decided to read this out of curiosity, while others know both characters from the fandoms and wonder why the heck they're both in this fic. For those who don't know, here's a (hopefully) brief explanation of both Mio and Cassandra. Warning: both profiles bring a couple spoilers of both fandoms, but I tried my best to keep that to a minimum, so I apologize in advance for that.**

**Cassandra Gladstone-Count Cain/Godchild- **Cassandra is the Head Priest (aka Hierophant) of the Major Arcana, which is a high rank of the organization called Delilah, which is run by the main antagonist of the Count Cain/Godchild series, Alexis Hargreaves. He (yes, people, Cassandra is a man and not a woman) enjoys the arts to the point that he goes to the Opera quite often, is a rich, _rich_ man who knows his investments well, and is the primary investor of Crimone Gardens, which he got renovated for the upper classes and lower classes of London to enjoy. The thing is, although he looks like he wants to bridge the gap between the poor and rich, in reality he believes the upper classes are completely superior above the upper classes and that the lower classes should be crushed. He also has a decent knowledge of drugs, and is very good at manipulating people's minds because he can see their pasts and also has hypnosis powers to control them as well.

**Mio Hongo-Skip Beat!-** She is a role that Kyoko Mogami plays in the drama 'Dark Moon/Tsukigomori.' Mio Hongo has a noticeable scar on the side of her face, due to being pushed into a pit of glass years ago by her older sister Misao out of jealousy, for being unable to match Mio's skill at the violin. She has a lot of hatred towards a lot of people for certain reasons, including Misao, and wishes revenge and torment towards them. As mentioned earlier, she is also known to be quite skillful at the violin. She is very manipulative in nature, and is very dark and gloomy as well. I don't know too much else about her, but I know for sure that you really shouldn't cross her or else you will pay the devestating consequences.

**Cassandra Gladstone. Mio Hongo. Both have something in common, and that is the darkness that they each hide inside themselves. If those two were to meet, what would happen?**

**Warning: Dark Moon/Tsukigomori AU, mentioned Mizuki (played by Itsumi Momose in the Dark Moon drama) xKatsuki (played by Ren Tsuruga), Mio/Cassandra friendship (slightly onesided romance on Cassandra's part, depending on your view?), violence, possible spoilers for both fandoms**

**Constructive Criticism would be great, and I hope that you read, review and enjoy! Thanks!**

* * *

_**Intrigued**_

She thought she was the only person in the house, at the time. She thought now would be a good time to play the violin, without her parents or Misao having to see.

She was wrong. The moment she played the ending chord of Rozsa's solo violin sonata, there was the slow, loud claps of unfamiliar hands. Her eyebrows furrowed as her dark eyes sharpened into a glare. How dare those claps mock her-she saw them as mocking, taunting laughter in her hearing.

"_Brava_, Miss Mio Hongo." A deep voice drawled. "I would toss a red rose for your beauteous performance if I had one in my hands. I quite enjoyed it."

She turned, glaring daggers at this man she didn't know. "_Who_ are you?" She hissed. "_Why_ are you here?"

The older man pushed a dark brown, greasy-looking lock of hair behind his ear, before answering her question. "My name," He started, "is Cassandra Gladstone, Miss Mio. And to answer your second question, I'm a business acquaintance of your father." He smiled at her, but the smile contained a bit of poison in it. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I have only heard of you a few times, and I have heard of your skills at the violin. I was doubtful at first, but I see that your skills are no lies."

She let out a small scowl in response. Anyone who was friends with her father were people she hated, too. There were no exceptions to that, not even the ones that complimented her.

His dark amber eyes looked at her quietly, before they shifted upwards and towards the scar on her face. "So, the story about the scar..." He paused for a moment, before speaking again. "I don't believe that you just simply fell into a pile of glass. I'm sure someone like you wouldn't be foolish enough to do that." He appeared to give a sort of sympathetic look. "I'm was so sure, Miss Mio, that we could at least come to be good acquaintances. After all," He chuckled slightly, "I do know quite a bit about you."

"Then you_ know_ why I have this scar, Gladstone?" She asked, intrigued. She knew there was something different about him than her father's other work acquaintances. There was a hint of interest forming in her mind already-he was definitely not like the others. "Do you know me that well?"

"No. I do not truly know the reason for why the scar is there." The older man shook his head, and leaned against a wall as he continued speaking. "I thought I would like for you to tell me yourself." There was a smile that appeared on his face-a faint half-smile that seemed to say, '_Tell me.'_

He wanted the truth about the scar-that was obvious. Mio, however, saw something else in his eyes-pure curiosity. This was a man who was purely interested in her, because of who she was.

He was someone different than the other business acquaintances of her father. Yes, he was someone much different, indeed. Mio had a feeling that this man could be...possibly_ compatible_ with her own self, if the both of them played their cards right.

"My _dear_ older sister pushed me into the mountain of glass out of jealousy. Are you satisfied with the truth, now?"

Gladstone's smile merely widened slightly.

"Miss Mio, I am very satisfied, I assure you."

* * *

Gladstone made his way through the school, searching for the violinist with the scar on her face. He was a busy man-_he _should not be the one to go picking up his business accquaintance's daughter! Hoping that he could find her, he turned the corner in the hallway-

-And saw that Mio had changed.

"Being the _wise_ mother you are, shouldn't you have given me a different name then just copying my sister's name? People wouldn't have joked that I'm such a failure, then. Not only does my name _sound_ like sister Misao's, but it's even _missing_ one of the hiragana from her name as well. It's as if I was meant to seem like a commoner."

He couldn't believe it. The venomous young girl had become someone much more beautiful-of course, a dangerous beauty. The long hair really didn't suit her-Cassandra was glad that she had cut it short. And exposing the scar made her look more dangerous than ever.

Cassandra had also never seen her talk back to her mother before. This was going to get interesting.

"Mio…People are going to laugh at you even more because you look that way now. That hairstyle does not suit you!" Lady Hongo snapped back at Mio. Cassandra frowned-if Lady Hongo was here to pick up Mio, why did he have to go in the first place? "If you don't want people staring at you and teasing you mercilessly, then grow your hair out like you used to!"

He hated the old hag. He did not understand how she could torment her own daughter like this-and he especially disliked the fact that she was killing Mio's skills at the violin by not allowing her to play violin in the house or take lessons. Well, that was going to change today-at least a little bit.

"Excuse me, Lady Hongo, but I believe that if she is to bring some self-confidence to herself, especially if she has her beauty to be confident about, that hairstyle was in order." Cassandra injected into the conversation. Both Mio and her mother turned to see him as he walked over to them. "It's good for her to try to have some pride in her scars-the business world is more cutthroat than in highschool, and if people make fun of her scars here, well..." He stood in front of Lady Hongo as he finished. "They will fear the venomous genius that she will become in the near future."

Mio's eyes widened a little, surprised for a moment. A smile then formed on her face-not a venomous one, but one filled with a bit of pride and a bit of happiness, too. Cassandra smiled back, even though Lady Hongo's face turned into rage.

"Miss Mio?" Cassandra offered a hand to the young girl. "We should go."

"Why are you here?" Lady Hongo snapped at him.

_"I_ was by your husband to pick up Mio from school and look after her for the afternoon, Lady Hongo. You can go ahead and do what you want. I promise she'll be back by five this evening." Cassandra told the older woman with a gentle smile. "She has lessons to attend, after all, we must get going unless you want her to be late for them."

_"Lessons?"_ Lady Hongo questioned. "What sort of lessons?"

"They are lessons you wouldn't approve of in your household. I'm changing that today." Cassandra told her as his smile turned into a smirk. "Mio needs to have an appropriate tutor for her _violin lessons_, after all...It's a shame that you and Lord Hongo dislike her violin playing-she could become a famous violinist faster, I'm sure, if she was allowed to practice in the house. Lord Hongo has allowed Mio to play the violin-just not in the house, which I believe is ridiculous. I, however, wouldn't mind if she was to practice at the manor I'm staying at here in Japan."

Mio glared at him, but he ignored that-he simply took her hand and walked away with her, feeling Lady Hongo's glare nailing into his back.

Mio kept glaring at him as they got to the parking lot, and he began to get annoyed by it.

_"What?"_ He spoke up after a moment of silence. "I scratch your back, you scratch mine. If you are going to work with me, you'll have to do me a favour some time later, Miss Mio. Be happy that I was able to get you a proper tutor."

She stopped walking, and held his hand tighter than she had been before. He turned to look at her.

The back of her hand hit his face. He recoiled slightly, letting go of her hand as it rose to meet his face. "Damn it, what was that for!?" He growled, glaring at her. "I was trying to help you, for bloody goodness sakes!"

"You slap me in the face, I slap you." Mio snapped back quietly, her eyes gleaming with hatred. "How dare you tell my mother about-about_ that,_ Gladstone!"

Gladstone went silent, before he let out a sigh. "It's about time that you got out of your little shell, Miss Mio." He muttered quietly. "But please, don't always take it out on me. I'm not the one you're after, and you know that."

Mio let out a 'hmph,' but she nodded in agreement. It was true-Gladstone was no problem in comparison to Misao, her mother, and her father, after all...

* * *

"How are the lessons, Mio?"

"Shut up, Cassandra." Mio muttered quietly as she put away the violin in her case. The two seemed to find time every day, to discuss about everything revolving around them. She never understood how Gladstone managed to do it-he was a busy man with work to do, after all, as she was a highschool student with work to do, too. "Don't you have more important things to do than to talk with me?"

The older man let out a huff, before he crossed his arms. "Can you at least try to address me in a more respectful manner? Otherwise, people _will _view you as some commoner." He chastised her lightly, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes for a moment. "You are a daughter from a rich family. Surely you need to act like you have the aura of a proud heiress, not a street brat."

"How_ dare_ you call me a street brat." He was not surprised to open his eyes after a moment and find her breathing against his throat as she pointed a dagger to his neck-this scene was far too familiar between the two of them now. "Could you try to address me, then, as not a street brat but as said 'proud heiress,' _Cassandra-chan?"_

She smirked slightly, and Cassandra let out a scowl. He absolutely _hated _the fact that she was using such a dignified name as his and twisting it into something more feminine, vulnerable... He was not one to become vulnerable so easily. He refused to become vulnerable-not in front of the young woman who, in his opinion, was a little like him in various ways.

"Of course-unless you wish to continue defiling my name like that. If you are willing to taunt my name, go ahead-I will only continue to see you as some street brat, then..."

There was silence, and then the smirk faded.

Cassandra took his opportunity to smile-he had won this little fight, and he was frankly proud of it. It wasn't easy to win in an argument against someone as malicious as Mio, after all.

* * *

They talked constantly to each other-every night, every day, as much as they could by phone, email, or whenever they could find themselves alone in the abandoned parlour.

Surprisingly...no one noticed at all. Cassandra wasn't surprised too much-no one paid too much attention to Mio, anyway, and he also knew that he was only going to be here for one more week. And then...to join the trip to...

"You're coming along?" Mio asked quietly as they stood in the hall, ignoring the dinner party resounding from the floor beneath them. "Why?"

Gladstone let out a snort. "It's obviously an attempt of your father's to show off his wealth to every business acquaintance." He muttered quietly. "After the trip, I'll be headed back to England, I'm afraid."

"And after the trip, I assure you that Misao will be dead, at least." Mio's lips slowly turned upwards. "This is my chance to exact my revenge, and I won't stop now."

"Oh?" Cassandra smiled a little. "I'm sure that would make Mizuki and Katsuki happy-they do look like an adorable couple." He murmured quietly, pushing a strand of hair behind his face.

Mio scowled. "Don't mention them now." She hissed quietly, her face turning into a sharp glare.

"Alright, I apologize." He gently put his hands up in surrender for a moment, before he let them lie by his sides. This party was getting boring without... "Perhaps, Miss Hongo, if you do not want to meddle anymore in this discussion, perhaps we can smooth out the lovely evening with a dance?"

This was the first time that he ever saw her look perplexed, confused by such a seemingly simple request. "A dance, Lord Gladstone?" She repeated, looking at him in slight surprise.

"What?" He asked quietly. "Has no one ever danced with you before, Mio?"

She shook her head. "No. You're the first who has ever asked me."

He smiled gently, and offered a hand to her. "Well then," He managed to say after a moment, "Shall we dance, Miss Mio?"

She smiled back-and this smile was a little different than what he had ever seen before. "Of course, Lord Cassandra."

They danced slowly, without any attention to the time that passed, to the music that swirled into existence from downstairs.

Their darkness would soon consume all that dared to defy them, working together hand in hand to bring them all down, no matter what.

They considered themselves to be a sort of darkness, and neither of them minded at all.


End file.
